In early 2020, Education without Borders (assisted by Guy Cohen and Nathan Paul) launched a new initiative, Surf without Borders (SwB). The SwB program was created with the hope of offering surf lessons to small groups of EwB students on the weekends. The Surf Clinic provided children with an opportunity to experience something new, have fun, learn about the ocean and was also an outlet from the poverty and crime in the townships.
Guy and Nathan, who are both originally from Los Angeles, initially raised funds for the program by preparing gourmet meals in homes for prospective donors back in Los Angeles. After a successful fundraising stint, Guy and Natha travelled to South Africa to team up with a South African surf school: 9Miles project. The first SwB surf clinic was conducted with a group of Grade 7 students from the EwB program at Mseki Primary School in Gugulethu on Saturday January 25th, 2020. For all students, it was their first time surfing, and a trip out to Strandfontein beach marked the start of their surf journey, Fortunately the program was able to squeeze in another clinic in 2020 before SwB programming was paused for the remainder of 2020 due to COVID-19.
A group of four grade 7 learners from Bellville Primary and two grade 7 students from Mseki Primary were transported to Strandfontein Beach in South Africa for a surf lesson. The group of students was accompanied by Anthea Jansen (EwB program lead) and Mickayla Smith (EwB site coordinator for Bellville Primary), along with Mr Heinrich (Principal of Bellville Primary) and his wife. Funding for this excursion and additional support was provided by the 9Miles Project, Bellville Primary school, EwB and SwB.
In March 2021, the Surf without Borders program restarted after having to pause its activities in 2020 due to COVID-19.
SwB surf clinics continued throughout 2021 on a monthly basis from March inclusive. We continued to partner with the 9Miles Project. On most of the excursions, we have an average of 20 learners attending per session. The learners most frequently attending are from Mseki Primary, Bellville South Primary and Nobantu.
If you are interested in supporting the growth of our partner organization, Surf without Borders, please donate through the following link: